A PROFESSOR from Perth has employed Google Earth to collect an awe-inspiring series of satellite photos showing fractal patterns around the world.

Two years ago, research professor Paul Bourke began searching Google’s powerful mapping program for images to add to his embryonic Google Earth Fractals web page.

"I was looking for some examples where fractals occur in nature," recalls Bourke.

"I had examples of trees and branching, clouds and meteorology, then I went looking in Google Earth."

"I didn't have too look hard, they're kind of everywhere, my search was more about finding the compelling."

"Fractals are a compact way of describing complex natural systems," explains Bourke, director of iVEC at the University of Western Australia.

"On Earth these include river systems, coastlines and mountain ranges, but fractals are found throughout nature: in the human body, in trees and plants, even in clouds and lighting bolts".

"My interest in fractals began as a student, then developed when I was managing the computing for the Department of Landscape Architecture at the University of Auckland" said New Zealand-born Bourke.

"There is a lot of geometry in nature that is not described very well by engineers and architects."

Google Earth Fractals is Bourke's gallery of patterns found while exploring the planet with Google Earth, a virtual globe and geographic information programme that maps the Earth with satellite imagery.

Each image is accompanied by a KMZ placemark file that includes exact coordinates of the location so visitors to Bourke’s website can view the image in its geographic location.

Google Earth is one of the most powerful computational tools on the planet, and Bourke is fascinated by it.

"Most people have gone on spaceship style cruises through Google Earth, it's almost a liberating thing to do. Because it's so easy to zoom from planet to street it does give you a really strong understanding of your place on Earth and your place in the cosmos, and how delicate our planet is."

"It's truly incredible to think of what we have now compared to relatively recent history. I'm a Kiwi and my forefathers came on a ship from Europe on a once in a lifetime trip that took them three months. Less than 200 years on, I can explore every part of the Earth from my office."

"Fractals are something that have popped up in describing data and geography throughout my career, initially describing trees and plants, then describing neurons in the the brain, then the large scale of the universe, most recently imaging rocks: it's the way nature is."